1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an input device for an information processing system, and an input method for the information processing system. More particularly, the invention relates to an input device for an information processing system which receives instructions from a user through an instructive document and transform the received instructions into such data as to be acceptable by the information processing system, and an input method for the information processing system.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
An input method using a mark sheet (referred to as "a mark-sheet input method") for an information processing system is known as one of the input methods for inputting data into an information processing system. The mark-sheet method has advantages of its own, which cannot be found in the input method using a full keyboard or a mouse. For this reason, the mark-sheet method is still used for the totalizing on questionnaire, marking on test, totalizing on orders received, and the like.
A first advantage of the mark-sheet method is that a user need not memorize related commands one by one. A second advantage thereof is that the user can indicate desired items and instructive items with only a pencil, and hence each user need not have a keyboard or a display. Another advantage is that tick marks or painting of the check boxes can directly be read and input into the information processing system. An additional advantage is that mark sheets may be stored and transported in a stacked state (The term "check box" means an area on a sheet to be ticked or painted. The wording "marking with a tick mark, painted out for tick, and the like" will be referred simply to "tick".).
This mark-sheet method may be used also for the general input method for an information processing system. This input method using the mark-sheet is disclosed in Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Nos. Sho. 57-60456, 63-8889, and 63-242060, and Hei. 1-183771 and 2-291767, and Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei. 3-40862, and the like.
The work using the information processing system may roughly be categorized into two types, first work continuously performed (referred to as continuous work) and second work discontinuously performed (referred to as discontinuous work). An example of the continuous work is the document preparation work. In the document preparation work, an operator forms a document on the screen of the display device, while manually operating a keyboard or a mouse. An example of the discontinuous work is the work to make an access to a data base. In the data base access work, an operator enters a keyword to retrieve desired information, prints out the retrieval results on a sheet, carefully examines the results, and makes an access to the data base again on the basis of the results of the examination to retrieve further detailed information.
The mark-sheet method is suitable for the discontinuous work. The continuous work proceeds while seeing a display on the screen. Therefore, if the mark-sheet method is applied to the discontinuous work, much ore time is taken for the work.
In the case of the discontinuous work, the following situation frequently takes place. The work to access the data base, for example, may be more efficiently done when a user moves to a location where materials are stored. In this case, the mark-sheet method is superior since in the mark-sheet method, the data base access work may be performed without a full keyboard, a display device, or the like.
Also in the above-mentioned conventional art, the mark-sheet method is applied to this field. Particularly, in the publications of Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Nos. Sho. 63-242060, Hei. 1-183771 and Hei 2-291767, a mark sheet is transmitted by a facsimile machine. In these days, the facsimile machines are widespread as telephone sets. Therefore, the mark-sheet method using the facsimile machines may make full use of the advantages of this method.
The conventional mark sheet method have some problems to be solved when applied to the general input method for the information processing system.
Firstly, in the mark-sheet method, the mark sheet is not flexible in the layout thereon. Timing marks are located at the upper side and/or the lower side or the right side and/or the left side on the mark sheet. The timing marks are used as reference marks when the mark sheet is read. The check boxes must be formed at the locations associated with the timing marks (FIG. 26, reference numeral 56, and others in Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. Hei. 2-291767, for example). In other words, the check boxes must be placed at limited locations on the mark sheet.
For this reason, it is difficult to obtain an easy-to-understand layout of the mark sheet.
Let us consider a case where a list of files hierarchically stored is taken out by using a "DIR" command, and a desired file is read out of the list.
In this case, the employment of a tree structure for the list is preferable, for the sake of easy-to-see. Check boxes to be selected, explanations and the like are preferably located on the side of the file names.
As described above, the locations of the check boxes are limited in the conventional mark-sheet method. The limited locations of the check boxes make it difficult to use the tree structure, and to lay out check boxes and explanations in a balanced and easy-to-see fashion.
Secondly, the processes on the mark sheet, such as outputting, read, and analysis is developed every application software, and are handled as the combination of those processes and the application software thereof ("application software" will be referred to simply as "application").
To set or alter the layout on the mark sheet and the display contents in accordance with a situation where the mark sheet is output, uses of the mark sheet, and the like, an increased number of developing processes is required for developing and altering the software. This makes it difficult to develop and alter the software.